Whigs

WHIGS were on the march. Whigs were riding in on horseback. Whigs were hauled in by ox carts. They sported Harrison badges and buttons, sold their Harrison almanacs and waved buckeye canes and huge kerchiefs. Barrels of hard cider refreshed the revelers.Baltimore was awash with Whigs. Their cries of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!" clashed with band music and the cheers of the people. Newspapers estimated the crowd on May 2, 1840, welcoming the national convention of Whig Young Men, at 100,000, equal to the population of the city.

Old Tippecanoe, the ninth president of the United States, was born 240 years ago today. He remains the president with the shortest term in office, having died a month after his inauguration. An elderly gentleman, he insisted on making a prolonged and unremarkable inaugural address in bad weather, caught a bad cold, and succumbed, bequeathing executive authority to John Tyler, "His Accidency," who would later distinguish himself as the only former president to make his allegiance to the Confederacy.

By J.D. Considine and J.D. Considine,Sun Pop Music Critic | February 18, 1999

When Afghan Whigs bassist John Curley was a kid, he wasn't into any specific style of music. What he liked were specific groups."I grew up in D.C. and would listen to the Top-40 AM radio," says the 34-year-old musician. "You would hear the Supremes or Marvin Gaye or something like that, and then two songs down the line, you might hear 'Sweet Home Alabama' or 'Don't Fear the Reaper.' So there was a lot of stuff to choose from, and thankfully, nobody told me, 'You gotta pick one.' "So Curley didn't discriminate.

By Michael Sragow and Michael Sragow,michael.sragow@baltsun.com | October 10, 2008

Amanda Foreman's robust, elegant biography, Georgianna, Duchess of Devonshire, receives a cream rinse and a Princess Di job in The Duchess, a Minorpiece Theatre depiction of the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales. Georgianna is a cultivated lass with an independent mind when she marries the fabulously wealthy and politically influential William Cavendish, the fifth duke of Devonshire. But she's also an intensely hopeful 17-year-old, so she's traumatized when she discovers that the duke is a cold cad who sees marriage as the process by which noble folk produce male heirs.

This is the 52nd presidential election.The 17th was held in 1852. For the second time in eight years an incumbent president who had acquired the office because of a death in the White House was denied renomination. The president was Millard Fillmore, whom the Whigs refused to renominate in part because he endorsed the Compromise of 1850, which included a new Fugitive Slave Act. Whigs nominated Winfield Scott, a military hero and anti-slavery man.The Democrats also accepted the Compromise and also compromised by nominating the obscure New Hampshire Sen. Franklin Pierce when all the leading candidates refused to concede to each other at a stalemated convention.

This is the 52nd presidential election.The 13th was held in 1836. In 1828 and 1832 Andrew Jackson had created a Democratic Party based on the votes of ''the common man.'' His opponents coalesced into a new party, the Whigs, so-named because Jackson's critics, invoking Revolutionary-era rhetoric, said he was making the presidency too ''royally'' powerful.Rather than back a single opponent for Jackson's hand-picked successor, Vice President Martin Van Buren of New York, the Whigs supported regional tickets in New England, the West and the South.

This is the 52nd presidential election.The 16th was the first to be held on the same day everywhere in the nation. It came after a two-year war with Mexico in which Gen. Zachary Taylor became a national hero. Whigs nominated him to run for president. Democrats chose Sen. Lewis Cass of Michigan, a supporter of the war.Cass had cast pro-slavery votes, and Taylor was a Louisiana slaveholder. Abolitionists had nowhere to go. Many voted for a new Free Soil Party, whose nominee was former Democratic President Van Buren.

Old Tippecanoe, the ninth president of the United States, was born 240 years ago today. He remains the president with the shortest term in office, having died a month after his inauguration. An elderly gentleman, he insisted on making a prolonged and unremarkable inaugural address in bad weather, caught a bad cold, and succumbed, bequeathing executive authority to John Tyler, "His Accidency," who would later distinguish himself as the only former president to make his allegiance to the Confederacy.

WASHINGTON -- It's a long way from the Democratic National Convention being held in Los Angeles this week, but in the 1830s, Democrat Simon Cameron suggested his party hold its national convention the third week in May of each presidential election year in Baltimore. His suggestion was never formally adopted, but 15 national political conventions were held in Baltimore during Cameron's lifetime, most of them involving the Democrats. Even so, the Democrats weren't the first to hold a convention in Baltimore.

EASY COME EASY GOGeorge Strait (MCA 10907)He may not be as good-looking as Clint Black or as charismatic as Garth Brooks, but when it comes down to putting a song across simply and effectively, George Strait tops 'em all. So even though there isn't anything flashy or trendy about the sound of "Easy Come Easy Go," it would be hard to imagine the country fan who could resist it. Not only is Strait utterly at home with the Texas twang of dance tunes like the...

Green Food and Bands The lowdown -- On Saturday, get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day a little early at the eighth annual Green Food and Bands. Indulge in corned beef and cabbage, as well as beer, wine and Irish coffee. Baltimore's Rossnareen will provide traditional and contemporary Irish music. Proceeds will go to Caroline Center, a nonprofit organization that provides job and career training to the city's unemployed and underemployed women. If you go -- The festivities start at 7 p.m., at Notre Dame Prep High School, 815 Hampton Lane in Towson.

WASHINGTON -- It's a long way from the Democratic National Convention being held in Los Angeles this week, but in the 1830s, Democrat Simon Cameron suggested his party hold its national convention the third week in May of each presidential election year in Baltimore. His suggestion was never formally adopted, but 15 national political conventions were held in Baltimore during Cameron's lifetime, most of them involving the Democrats. Even so, the Democrats weren't the first to hold a convention in Baltimore.

By J.D. Considine and J.D. Considine,Sun Pop Music Critic | February 18, 1999

When Afghan Whigs bassist John Curley was a kid, he wasn't into any specific style of music. What he liked were specific groups."I grew up in D.C. and would listen to the Top-40 AM radio," says the 34-year-old musician. "You would hear the Supremes or Marvin Gaye or something like that, and then two songs down the line, you might hear 'Sweet Home Alabama' or 'Don't Fear the Reaper.' So there was a lot of stuff to choose from, and thankfully, nobody told me, 'You gotta pick one.' "So Curley didn't discriminate.

The reading lessons below are from textbooks used by students in the late 1800s.'South Carolina'This lesson was included in "McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader," published in 1879. South Carolina had attacked U.S. soldiers at Fort Sumter and the state was the first to leave the Union, in 1860:Robert Young Hayne, 1791-1846, was born in Colleton District, South Carolina, and studied and practiced law in Charleston. He was early elected to the State Legislature, and became Speaker of the House and Attorney-general of the state.

EASY COME EASY GOGeorge Strait (MCA 10907)He may not be as good-looking as Clint Black or as charismatic as Garth Brooks, but when it comes down to putting a song across simply and effectively, George Strait tops 'em all. So even though there isn't anything flashy or trendy about the sound of "Easy Come Easy Go," it would be hard to imagine the country fan who could resist it. Not only is Strait utterly at home with the Texas twang of dance tunes like the...

This is the 52nd presidential election.The 18th was held in 1856. It was a tumultuous time. The Whig Party had elected two of the last four presidents, but it found itself riven and reduced to its last gasping breaths by the most volatile issue in American political history, slavery. The Democrats had a problem with this, too. Southern based, the party was strongly pro-slavery. It supported extending slavery into the Western territories. Many Whigs and some Democrats in the North and Midwest switched to the new anti-slavery Republican Party.

Green Food and Bands The lowdown -- On Saturday, get into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day a little early at the eighth annual Green Food and Bands. Indulge in corned beef and cabbage, as well as beer, wine and Irish coffee. Baltimore's Rossnareen will provide traditional and contemporary Irish music. Proceeds will go to Caroline Center, a nonprofit organization that provides job and career training to the city's unemployed and underemployed women. If you go -- The festivities start at 7 p.m., at Notre Dame Prep High School, 815 Hampton Lane in Towson.

This is the 52nd presidential election.The 16th was the first to be held on the same day everywhere in the nation. It came after a two-year war with Mexico in which Gen. Zachary Taylor became a national hero. Whigs nominated him to run for president. Democrats chose Sen. Lewis Cass of Michigan, a supporter of the war.Cass had cast pro-slavery votes, and Taylor was a Louisiana slaveholder. Abolitionists had nowhere to go. Many voted for a new Free Soil Party, whose nominee was former Democratic President Van Buren.